How does Quentin Tarantino use symbolism to communicate with the audience in Kill Bill? - An essay
Kill Bill (2003) is one of Quentin Tarantinoâs most famous films, following the story of The Bride and her journey of revenge on the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad after being nearly killed during her rehearsal wedding.Â
The journey of the Bride, a mysterious character at the beginning of volume one, is one about identity. The audience first meet her broken and bloody; she seems like an innocent bystander that was caught at the wrong time in a massacre. The next scene the audience see her fighting a woman called Vernita Green. The two scenes oppose each other, during the fighting scene the Brideâs name is censored which gives her the element of mystery and detaches her from any emotions the audience could have for her. [1] The audience has no idea who she really is and why she is on a path for revenge until it shows the aftermath of the massacre. Throughout Volume One the audience see the Bride slowly rebuilding her identity after losing it all. This is her revenge story on those who have wronged her; her revenge is motivated by the loss of her child, which fuels this desire for justice even more. Just like many female revenge stories, the Brideâs anger comes from sexual assault, the hospital worker had been selling her body while in comatose, but throughout the story there is a figurative version of it, Bill robbed her of her body and herself when he âkilledâ her which created this journey of the Bride restoring her identity and not just revenge [2]. In the end, just like other female revenge stories, the focus ends up being on the man who caused it all. [3] Since the audience doesnât know much about the Bride it is hard to say who she was and see any development in her character in Volume One but the main thing they know is that she wants to kill bill as her end goal. This is a story about revenge, but also about a woman who has lost everything, even her name, [4] and is on a journey to regain that identity and control.Â
In Volume Two, the Brideâs journey is ending as she hunts the final people on the death list. The Bride finally regains her identity, but she does not get to reveal it herself, it was revealed by Elle Driver when she assumed Beatrix was dead; this gives us her the vulnerability she never had in Volume One. Beatrix had been a symbol like Lady Snowblood, a film that inspired Kill Bill, instead of giving her the vulnerability she had with her real name, never being seen as a real person. She needed to experience the suffering of men just to become powerful. [5] When Beatrix finally gets to Bill, she is met with her daughter who she thought she had lost, it showed that all the pain and suffering she went through was so she could become a mother, to give her daughter a better life than being in constant danger. This defies the stereotype that a woman has to choose between motherhood and her career, Beatrix has both the nurturing sense of a mother but also the ruthlessness of a killer, showing they can coexist [6] and it even made her stronger and for determined to complete her quest to regain her identity and her daughter.  This stereotype is often mentioned in media, a good example of this being mentioned is in the Barbie movie, America Ferreraâs big speech about being a woman: âYou're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about your kids all the damn time.â âYou have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people.â [7]. Women are expected to choose between one of these but also not gloat about it, not to be too proud or not hurt others. In Volume Two, the Bride finally gains her name, Beatrix Kiddo, and regained her identity as a mother once she had finally reunited with B.B. proving she can be both powerful and motherly. [8]Â
A common symbol that Beatrix is compared to is the black-eyed Susan, a yellow flower with a red and sometimes brownish hue in the centre. A flower which are known to be resilient, adaptable, and durable, which all apply to Beatrix. It is all clear with how she is dressed; the most obvious example is during the Crazy 88 fight while she is wearing the yellow jumpsuit, which is covered in red from the blood, just like a black-eyed Susan. Beatrix in some way is always representing or in an area where the symbolism is happening; for example, the interior design of Vernita Greenâs kitchen with the yellow walls and the photo of a red splash, no matter where she goes the symbolism follows, using this symbolism Tarantino is showing how Beatrix, even without dressing like the flower, is just like the black eyed Susan; resilient. Another character who carries the symbolism is Elle Driver, the antithesis of Beatrix Kiddo; they both are blonde, constantly have a black eye (figuratively for Elle with her missing eye). Elle, however, disrespects Pai Mei, the reason her eye is missing, and is loyal to Bill which makes her different to Beatrix. Continuing with the black-eyed Susan symbolism, the relationship between Bill and Beatrix is like a poem called âSweet Williamâs Farewell to Black-Ey'd Susanâ written by John Gay. Think of Bill and Beatrix with these lines from the poem: Â
ââO Susan, Susan, lovely dear,Â
My vows shall ever true remain;Â
Let me kiss off that falling tear;Â
We only part to meet again.Â
Change as ye list, ye winds; my heart shall beÂ
The faithful compass that still points to thee.âÂ
ââThough battle call me from thy armsÂ
Let not my pretty Susan mourn;Â
Though cannons roar, yet safe from harmsÂ
William shall to his Dear return.Â
Love turns aside the balls that round me fly,Â
Lest precious tears should drop from Susanâs eye:â [9]Â
In the poem, it is William that leaves Susan but in Kill Bill it is the opposite. Beatrix leaves Bill to give her daughter a better life, she cries not because Bill is gone but because she had finally defeated him and taken her daughter back, Beatrix is the symbol of female empowerment. Taratino has twisted this story of a woman full of sorrow and changes to her taking everything into her own hands to defeat the violent man. [10] A small piece of the conversation Bill and Beatrix had at the small church has a clear reference to the poem: âIâve never been nice my whole life, but Iâll do my best to be sweet.â Beatrix tells him: âIâve always told you, your sweet side is your best side.â  Â
This is a clear reference to the Sweet William of John Gayâs poem. Â
It is clear to see that Beatrix Kiddo is a powerful symbol for women even confirmed by Uma Thurman herself from an interview back in 2017: âWomen would come up to me and say that the film helped them in their lives,â [11]Â During the film we can see Beatrix âoften confined to the pressuring rectangle of the frameâ but she manages to âretains control of the camera and restores her agency in many ways of impressive kung-fu sequencesâ [12]Â making her empowered by the shot. Beatrix defies that traditional stereotype that women cannot be physically and mentally strong, and many other female characters in Kill Bill like O-Ren Ishii also challenge the stereotype that women in many revenge and action style stories are weak.Â
The whole story was about Beatrix Kiddo trying to regain her identity from the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad and her desire for normalcy with her daughter B.B, to give her daughter a better life outside all the bloodshed of her past life as the Black Mamba. Her character has grown from this emotionless deadly assassin to a woman who lost it all before finally being reborn as Beatrix Kiddo, a powerful woman and mother.Â
FOOTNOTES:Â
1 - Adrienne Tyler. (2022). Why The Bride's Name Is Bleeped Out In Kill Bill. [Online]. Screenrant. Last Updated: Aug 21, 2022. Available at: https://screenrant.com/why-brides-name-is-censored-in-kill-bill/ [Accessed 5 January 2026].   Â
2 - Unknown (n.d.) YouTube video [Online]. YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/UEjq_3IVX28 (Accessed: 10 January 2026).   Â
3 -Unknown (n.d.) YouTube video [Online]. YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/UEjq_3IVX28 (Accessed: 10 January 2026).  Â
4 - Emma Wagner. (2023). Kill Bill Secretly Reveals The Bride's Name WAY Earlier Than You Think. [Online]. Screenrant. Last Updated: May 23, 2023. Available at: https://screenrant.com/kill-bill-bride-name-secret-revealed-plane-ticket/ [Accessed 5 January 2026].Â
5 - Unknown (n.d.) YouTube video [Online]. YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/UEjq_3IVX28 (Accessed: 10 January 2026).  Â
6 - Mary K. Pratt. (2011). How to Analyze the Films of Quentin Taratino. [Online]. ABDO Publishing Company. Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/How_to_Analyze_the_Films_of_Quentin_Tara/LXGamg6TLuAC?hl=en&gbpv=0 [Accessed 12 January 2026].Â
7 - Alyssa Bailey. (2023). Here's Every Word of America Ferrera's Big Barbie Monologue. [Online]. ELLE. Last Updated: 25 July 2023. Available at: https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a44640422/america-ferrera-full-barbie-monologue/ [Accessed 20 January 2026].Â
8 - Mary K. Pratt. (2011). How to Analyze the Films of Quentin Taratino. [Online]. ABDO Publishing Company. Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/How_to_Analyze_the_Films_of_Quentin_Tara/LXGamg6TLuAC?hl=en&gbpv=0 [Accessed 12 January 2026]. Â
9 - 5 John Gay. (1720). Sweet William's Farewell to Black-ey'd Susan: A Ballad. [Online]. All Poetry. Available at: https://allpoetry.com/Sweet-William%27s-Farewell-to-Black-ey%27d-Susan:-A-Ballad [Accessed 14 January 2026].  Â
10 - Restate of the Art (2025) Kill Bill & The Black-Eyed Susan, Restate of the Art. Available at: https://wolf-parrotfish-44gc.squarespace.com/reviews/kill-bill-black-eyed-susan#:~:text=In%20the%20scene%20with%20the,bird%20in%20all%20the%20world. (Accessed: 10 January 2026).Â
11 - Unknown (n.d.) YouTube video [Online]. YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/UEjq_3IVX28 (Accessed: 10 January 2026).   Â
12 - Unknown (n.d.) YouTube video [Online]. YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/UEjq_3IVX28 (Accessed: 10 January 2026).  Â
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